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by merwe



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, M/M, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-27
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-09-20 05:29:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9477623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merwe/pseuds/merwe
Summary: Keith's a barista at the local college cafe, 'Five Lions Cafe'.Lance is a college student working at the gym across the road.





	

The low hum of the busy morning rush was calming, cups clinked together, a happy chatter vibrated through the air and the smell of coffee was energizing yet soothing. It was mainly college students that filled into ‘The Five Lions Cafe’ for their morning coffee buzz to start the day, either late for their first class or wanted a nice and cozy place to study and finish assignments. The cafe was situated on the outer skirt of the campus grounds to ‘Altea Community College’, put there to make sure students could get coffee and not be late for their classes in the mornings. He could understand why they would come here, the coffee was good, he wouldn’t lie, Keith made good coffee, not to be up himself or anything, but the vibe was also good and it was reasonably close. 

Keith had started working at FLC at the start of his freshman year of college, his first and only year. He hadn’t even made a full year and had dropped out only half a year in. He wasn’t too bothered about dropping out but his family was. His parents had tried to persuade him to stay, saying he needed it to succeed, which wasn’t necessarily true and Keith knew that. Shiro, Keith’s older brother had given him his best Disappointed Dad™ look (name brought to you by Pidge) and tried to give him reasons to stay. In the end, he did not and with no regrets. He kept his job at the cafe, not only to keep his steady source of income but because he genuinely enjoyed the job. It was peaceful and there was always a positive vibe wafting through the room. It was his happy place. Allura, his boss, was glad he had decided to stay on the team, saying something about ‘not wanting to loose a family member’.

The 8 am morning sun made the shop glow in a warm, orange light, Keith practically swam in it, being positioned under a window that looked across the street to a gym, the view slightly obstructed by the white font written across the glass, Five Lions Cafe written in ‘Oranique’ font. He enjoyed the view, being situated there every day seeing as it was where the coffee machine was. He never got tired of watching the students walk past or the artistic painting that had been painted on the side of the gym wall, explosions of color and graphics which Keith could only describe to be a dragon of sorts. Apparently, the college had commissioned an artist to do it, Keith was impressed, to say the least. Over the year tag art, most likely belonging to gangs, had been scribbled along the bottom, which was hardly noticeable. Keith had only noticed them from staring at them over the past several months. Keith didn’t mind being cooped up in the cafe, it kept him busy. Allura kept suggesting taking a week off after working nonstop for months but Keith just waved her off.

 

Keith was snapped out of his thoughts when another receipt was shoved at him from his self-proclaimed best friend. Pidge was about the size of a ten-year-old and was a senior in high school, they took after their brother, Matt, who also worked at FLC and was in his senior year of College along with Shiro. Matt and Shiro didn’t work as much anymore, seeing as they were drowning in work, so Pidge mostly picked up their shifts when possible. Keith got to work on the pumpkin spiced latte, which had started becoming more popular with the arrival of fall. That wasn’t the last of the pumpkin spiced lattes that were ordered and by the end of it, Keith knew that he was going to smell like Pumpkin spice for several hours. It’s not that he wasn’t used to smelling like coffee, he always did, you’d think he’d be sick of it by now but he wasn’t, it was home to him. 

“Pumpkin spice latte for Mia?” He called, poking his head around the side of the coffee machine and smiled as a tan woman stepped up to the counter. Her eyes wavered over Keith’s uncovered arms as he handed the warm cup to her and gave the girl a smile. This wasn’t unusual. Keith had a case of Vitiligo, were areas of the skin are lighter than others because they have lost their pigment. The woman didn’t look for long, averting her eyes to Keith’s as he waved her off with a ‘have a nice day.’ He went back to hurriedly making latte after latte, sometimes an iced coffee, sometimes a hot chocolate and the occasional ‘Spiced pumpkin latte with a shot of vanilla, an extra shot of cinnamon, skim milk and an extra shot of coffee.’ The long orders weren’t all bad, something about piling a bunch of different ingredients together and mixing them fuelled one's childish tendencies. What ever the orders were, Keith didn’t mind, he enjoyed making coffee, just everything about coffee was… Nice? Keith didn’t know how to explain it. Just everything about coffee was intoxicating, captivating, calming, Keith sometimes found himself thinking he had a strange obsession with it, which he only shrugged off. Pidge bumped shoulders with him as he finished pouring the frothy milk into a caramel latte. 

“Switch with me Keith, I can’t stand greeting any more customers.” They said as they hip bumped Keith to the register who only rolled his eyes in reply. Keith handed the remaining customer the coffee and leaned his elbows on the bench. It was now 10:30, meaning coffee rush was over and there was going to be small stragglers until 11:30-ish when lunch rush came. 

Keith sighed and took in his surroundings. The cafe had a retro (or ‘hipster’, as Pidge liked to call it) feeling to it. The red brick walls, indoor plants that hung from the ceiling and polaroid photos that hung on twine along one of the walls was welcoming. Keith had no idea why Allura, his boss, had thought Polaroids of the crew was a good idea, apparently, it was some way of ‘bonding’ the crew together. He almost wanted to laugh. Keith was in many of the photos, seeing as he was a regular and he wasn’t quite sure if he should be happy about the fact or not. 

“Kogane.” Keith snapped out of his thoughts (for the millionth time today) by Pidge. “Customer.” They said gesturing to the man in front of him. 

“Ah,” He grimaced at his mess up and straightened up. “Sorry.” He said to the customer, a man in a button down and tie, a teacher maybe? The ‘teacher’ waved him off,” It’s fine,” he said with a bright smile. “Late night studying huh?” He laughed as if it was completely obvious, eyes skimming over the patches on Keith’s arms. Keith moved in a state of agitation, hands running over the marks, a nervous habit.

“Actually,” Keith pause, “I’m not in college.” Keith felt bad for the man, who now had an embarrassed look on his face, almost apologetic.

“Ah! I’m sorry! I didn't-“ Keith cut him off, waving his hands to stop the man.

“It’s okay, I did go, I just dropped out.” The man cleared his throat and adjusted his baby blue tie, laughing stiffly.

“Oh,” He started, shifting his weight. “What did you study?” His atmosphere changed from what Keith observed, now he seemed intrigued.   
 “Law.” Keith almost cringed. The disgust must have shown on his face because the teacher laughed.

“I can understand why you dropped out then, I’m not a big law fan either.” He laughed. Keith didn’t mind this teacher, that was his conclusion. He seemed nice, kind of down to earth. “I’m Daniel Iverson, I teach English Literature.” He held his hand out over the desk and Keith took his hand, barely surprised by the strong grip. He wouldn’t be surprised if he was a member of the gym across the road. Keith could see the bicep muscles wanting to rip from his white button down. He was an attractive teacher, Keith would give him that.

“I’m Keith Kogane, former law student, current Five Lions barista.” He smiled up at the older man.

“Well Keith, I’ll get out of your hair, could I get a-“ He paused, skimming his eyes over the chalkboard above the register. “-a large latte, double shot?” 

“Sure that’ll be $6.50” Keith smiled politely, taking the money from Mr. Iverson then handed back his change. 

“Keith if you ever decide that Literature is your thing,” Iverson paused to take his coffee from Pidge and moved to exit the coffee shop. “Come find me in the English department.” He gave a curt nod and left, moving to head back to the class buildings. 

“So Keith?” Pidge said, a playful tone ringing through the air. “What’re you going to do, recite Macbeth until you get him in bed?” Pidge was a spawn of satan. Keith already knew this, but now it was really starting to set in. Keith sent a glare their way only earning a laugh in return. More like an evil cackle, he corrected himself. 

Keith had known Pidge for most of his life. Shiro and Matt were best friends going through middle school so Pidge would always come over when Matt did. Pidge was Keith’s only friend growing up, not that he cared much. Keith didn’t feel the need for a lot of friends, Pidge, along with his older brother, was all he needed, even if they were three years younger, he didn’t care. Pidge was there when Shiro wasn’t, when Shiro went missing when everything around him was falling to pieces, when the kids at school made fun of his two-toned skin. He was eternally grateful for that. But it was at times like these when Keith would question their friendship.

“Oh cmon Keith! I can practically see you swooning for the man. He’s smart, totally daddy material-“

“Pidge I’m going to have to stop you right there.” Keith put a hand over their mouth. A small, amused smile slipping much to Keith’s dismay, only to be replaced by a look of horror as he felt Pidge’s tongue lick the inside of his palm. He retracted his hand back faster than Sanic™ could ever imagine and wiped it on his apron.

“Ew- did you- Pidge!” Keith exclaimed loudly, only earning another cackle from the smaller person. That’s how the day continued, The occasional customer, Pidge’s strange and sexual innuendos and coffee. 

Allura cam in half way through lunch rush, a new sales pitch in tow. Coran, her uncle, and assistant manager had come up with the idea. His orange hair and mustache were hard to miss from a mile away and had a very noticeable, um, bright accent. He, just like Pidge, tended to come up with impossible and crazy ideas, usually ones that would end in injuries. Allura had to, um… modify… the original draft, stating something about ‘not being about to sell anything containing plastic.’ 

“What’s the pitch?” Pidge said, fiddling with their glasses, a smirk present on their face.

“Did you?…” Keith stopped, cringing. “Did you just pun Kim Possible?” Before Pidge had a chance to reply, Allura was already talking.

“Anyway,” She paused as if thinking of a way to propose the idea. “We’d need to make it original because this is pretty basic, but it should bring in more customers outside the college, hopefully, I mean that is the goal-“

“Allura.” Pidge cut her off. Allura had a habit of rambling when she was explaining an idea.

She cleared her throat, tucking a silver strand behind her ear. “A fall inspired latte!” She proclaimed loudly. No one said anything, the idea turning in everyone's heads.

“Well,” Keith started. “That’s a start, but it is basic like you said, doesn’t Starbucks come up with one of them every year?” He crossed his arms, shifting from foot to foot. Allura nodded.

“Yes! But ours will be better!” She beamed. “Coran suggested putting in little fall themed toys but we legally can’t but plastic in a drink.”

“It was just an idea!” Coran smiled, twirling with his mustache. “A very good idea if I do say! It’s a shame the government isn’t as humorous as me!” 

“Also, I’m not sure how grown adults would like children’s toys in their coffee,” Keith stated, one hand across his stomach, the other positioned as a lazy gesture. Allura held her chin in thought, a hum of agreement escaping her. 

“Well,” She started, gaze fixed on the floor in thought. “Get back to work, think of some ideas and tell me tomorrow if you think of anything.” 

Allura was beautiful, to say the least. She had long silver hair reaching her lower back which contrasted nicely with her tan skin. She gave off a happy aura which could light up a room like a mother would. Allura wasn’t the usual kind of boss, she was just a friend, always asking instead of telling and confronted problems with a smile. She was easy for Keith to be around, to say the least, he wasn’t too good at ‘people.’ He had the tendency to be awkward and stiff. Customers were easy, but when it turned to more than ‘What can I do for you? and ‘Here’s your coffee.’ That’s where Keith faulted. 

The rest of the day flew by and before he knew it, Keith was locking up the shop and making his way to his small apartment a couple of blocks away. The sun had just set, leaving a soft orange glow along the horizon, yet the sky was swimming in stars. Street lights lead Keith home to an old brown building, five stories high and fire escapes zig-zagged up and down the building. His apartment was on the third floor, a small, one bedroom apartment with a joint lounge and kitchen. Keith had decorated the place with house plants, having a strange obsession with cacti in particular. Besides the plants, the whole apartment screamed ‘broke college student.’ An old sagging red couch and a tatty red rug with patterns on it sat in the living room, a small tv across from them. His bedroom held a double bed and a dresser, which was all he needed. 

Keith shut the door behind him, letting a sigh escape his lips. He kicked off his shoes and trudged into the lounge/kitchen, flopping face first on the couch. He hadn’t bothered switching a light on or grabbing dinner, nor did he think to turn the heating on to warm up his crisp apartment. Keith hadn’t bothered to water the plants, he had given them a lot yesterday, they’d be alright for one night. Keith laid there, he didn’t do any of those things, just letting out the occasional sigh. 

He was bored. 

Bored of the boring, repetitive life he had. Wake up, get ready, go to work, come home, fall asleep. His routine was occasionally disrupted by Pidge for a sleepover or by Shiro for dinner. But that was it. Like clockwork, it was all the same. It’s not that he didn’t like working in the coffee shop or living in his apartment. It was just… old. Boring. Bland. 

Maybe I should start to watch a tv series, he though. Maybe a new book series? That’d be exciting right? Keith let out a huff of breath, something some people could call a laugh. That’s pathetic. He turned over onto his back to stare at the ceiling. Keith shivered. Now he was realizing he should have turned on the heating. He reached his hand up in the air and studied it. The darker patches almost seemed purple, which Pidge always said was cool. The lighter patch ran on the tips of his fingers, the palm of his hand and the down the underside of his arm. There were some lighter patches along the top too, breaking up the darker tone. Keith used to get called a cow a lot as a kid, seeing as the patches seemed to imitate the ones used see one a cow. 

Turning his hand in the air Keith laughed. It’s funny how something so meaning full back then meant nothing to him now. Keith had returned home from school crying many times, the other students making fun of his skin condition. Now Keith didn’t care. Skin was skin to him. Keith could see goose bumps on his arms. Sighing, he hauled himself off the couch and made his way to the thermostat near the front door. He switched it on to a warmer setting and went to his room to change out of his coffee smelling set of clothes. 

A giant oversized red sweater and black boxer shorts soon hung from his body. Next on his list of ‘things I need before I pass out’ was hot chocolate. In the kitchen, he brought out a pot and poured in water. After the water was heated he whisked in the ingredients until it was done. He poured the hot cocoa in a cup and plopped a dollop of vanilla ice-cream in it. He stared down at his drink, a grin forming on his face, perfect. Plopping back down on the couch with his drink he switched on the tv. Netflix came up on his screen and he started flicking through the shows he hadn’t seen. 

“Please Like Me?” He questioned, reading off the title to the show out loud. “Josh is going through a number of big changes… After being dumped by his girlfriend, he comes to the realization that he is gay…. he deals with it all -- only in his own awkward, self-centered way… Seems like the perfect show for me.” Keith grumbled light-heartedly to himself as he clicked play.

As the Australian accents echoed throughout his apartment he began to realize. He was still cold. The thermostat was still on, and that had nothing to do with it. It wasn’t that he was physically cold in a way, intact he was quite warm. Yet the feel of the sagging couch beneath him and the Autumn air made him cold. It was isolating, that was the only way for Keith to describe it.

The cafe was warm. Pidge was warm. Shiro was warm. Allura was warm. And Keith… Keith was cold.

———————

Lance was over the smell of sweat and deodorant. Working at the gym had great pay, that was all that kept him there. Also because his best friend Hunk worked there too. Lance was positioned at the front desk filing different documents away. Well, that’s what he told his boss. He was actually finishing the astrophysics assignment… Which was due the next day… Which he had just started.

“Hunk, man, You’ve gotta help me!” He groaned dramatically, slumping onto the cool desk. Hunk, a tall, beefy man with tan skin and an obsession with an orange headband stood behind him, pulling out different files of different clients. 

“Sorry lance, you got yourself into this.” He paused, turning his gaze to the Lance. “Plus, last time I helped you with an assignment I practically did it for you! Not only that, the teacher found out too! If it were any other teacher than Mrs. Marry we would have been expelled!” In Lance’s 18 years of knowing Hunk, he knew he tended to over exaggerate due to unneeded anxiety. But Lance looked past that. Hunk was a genuinely good guy. He’d never let Lance down and was always look out for others. Plus he was a really good cook.

“She said we would have been suspended! Not expelled.” Lance leant back on the chair, arms crossed behind his head. “Now can you please give me a hand?” Lance pouted in the bigger man’s direction, who only groaned in response.

“How about you help me with these files! Like you’re supposed to be doing…” Hunk cocked his head to the shelf he was sorting. 

“If I don’t get this done Hunk, Mrs. Marry will kill me, that I’m sure of.” Lance waved his pen in Hunk’s direction, who had been slipping a file into the right spot on the shelf. 

“What were you saying earlier?” Hunk paused, a shit eating grin forming on his face. “Oh, ‘Hunk I’m the best at astrophysics, I’ll do this assignment without your help! It’s easy!’” Hunk pulled a high-toned voice, his hands clasped in front of him and he waved his hips side to side, mimicking Lance in a mocking manner. 

“Hunk! I don’t sound like tha-“

“Hunk- I don’t sound like that!” Hunk cut Lance off using the same high-pitched voice, laughing as Lance fumed, crossing his arms and facing the other way, nose in the air.

“Anyway,” Hunk cleared his throat and continued. “You said it was an easy assignment, why’s it so hard all of a sudden?” The question made Lance slump back into a groaning mess.

“That was before I read the task sheet.” 

“You’ve only just read the task sheet? Why am I not surprised.” Hunk deadpanned and placed down a file he was holding. “Fine,” He started, holding a hand to Lance. “Hand me the sheet. I’ll help you but I’m not doing the whole thing.” 

 

Hunk did the whole thing. When the two boys left the Gym at 9 at night Lance walked out with an assignment finished and brain dead Hunk. 

“Dude if your teacher catches you, I’m telling her you held me at gunpoint till I did it.” Hunk said, walking slowly and hunched over. His back hurt from being hunched over a computer for the past several hours.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever man. At least I won’t flunk this class now!” Lance held the printed copy in front of him, marveling at the 12 pages Hunk had written. It wasn’t that Lance couldn’t do the assignment, he just couldn’t be bothered. At all. He loved astrophysics, don’t get him wrong. It’s just that assignments were a bore, especially 12-page essays. The Cuban boy had trouble focusing sometimes, tending to miss half a lecture and then be lectured by the teacher about paying attention. Lance had only graduated because of Hunk’s intervention to his assignments, if it weren’t for that, well, he wouldn’t have graduated to put it straight. 

“Pizza?” Lance suggested, eyes catching on the pizza store to his right. “On me.” He grinned as Hunk’s face lit up.

“Dude yes.” 

The duo returned to their dorm half an hour later, two pizza’s in hand. The dorm was an average college dorm, a small kitchen at on end of the room, two beds on the other. It was a mess, to say the least and in Hunk’s defense, most of it was Lance’s stuff. This was how most nights went and despite being stuffed in the gym and classes, Lance loved it.

**Author's Note:**

> The hot chocolate recipe he uses is here!: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/bas-best-hot-chocolate (It's really good)
> 
> Also, I hope there aren't too many mistakes. 
> 
> Tumblr: http://merwe-e.tumblr.com/


End file.
